Collapsible basket support



Dec. 9, 1930. w. A. LYNDS 1,784,240

COLLAPSIBLE BASKET SUPPORT Original Filed Dec. 12, 1927 alter a; 2% 4)f/ Patented Dec. 9, 1930 PATENT o-FFICE WALTER A. LYNDS, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS COLLAPSIBLE BASKET SU'TPORT Application f led December12,1927, Serial No. 239,353. Renewed April 24, 1930.

My invention relates to trucks and more especially to li 'ht portabletrucks for holding a basket or the like. I r

The object of my invention is to provide an inexpensive, light andstrong truck particularly adapted tohold Or carry a clothes basket orthe like elevated from the ground so that its interior is convenientlyaccessible to a person standingerect alongside of the same and by meansof which the basket can be easily shifted from one location to another.Another object of this invention is to provide a collapsible truck oftheclass indicated the parts of which, when the truck is not in I ,use,*canbe folded or grouped into closely assembled or packed relationship so asto occupy very littlespace and so that the structure can be readilystored or transported.

T 0 these ends I haveprovided a truck of the class described having thepeculiar features ofconstruction and mode of operation set forth'in thefollowing description, thenovel features of the inventi'on beingparticul'arly pointed out and defined in the claims at the closethereof.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a perspective view of myimproved truck. Figure 2 is a plan view of the truck in collapsedcondition. I

Figure 3' is a side elevation of the parts of the truck in collapsedcondition. r v

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the lower portion of one of the U-shapedframes hereinafter described. a p

The embodiment of my invention herein illustrated, comprises a pair ofbasebars l, 1 each provided at its opposite ends and upon itsouter-"side with supporting wheels 2 adapte'dto rest upon the ground. Atthe opposite ends of each base bar' 1, and upon the top side thereof arealsoprovidedtwo end posts 3, 3; At its lower end each postB, 3 isprovided with a bracket arm extension 4 a'jpivotally connected at 5 toits base bar '1. These bracket arms at are of approximately angle-ironshape in that their free end portions extend or projectlaterally fromthe bars 3. and it is a feature oi'the construction herein illustrated,thatthe pivots 5 of" the two outer ends are pivotally fastened at l0, 10

posts 3, at one end of the truck, are off-set laterally from their bars1 1 a greater distance than are the pivots 5 of the posts -3, at theopposite end of the truck. As will be clear from Figure 3 the diiierencebetween 5.5 the lateral oli-set'of one pair of pivots 5 and the otherpair of pivots is approximately equal to the thickness of the bars 3that are equipped with the shorter bracket arms 4. It will thus be clearthat when the structure '6 is collapsed, as described later, the twobase bars 1, l and the four posts 3 may all be brought together intoparallelism side by side.

The pair of posts at each end of the truck are providedat their upperends with bracket arms 6 pivotally connected together by a pintle 7which provides for relative swinging movement of the arms 3- on the axesof the 'pintles ,7, as indicated by the arrows CQQC, it

being understood that the axes of the two pintles 7 7 are in alignmentor coincident. Each pintle 7 also serves to pivotally connect the shankof a hook 8 with the upper ends o1 its pair of posts. 3, 3, said hookbeing disposed upon the inner side of said pair. These hooks areprovided as rests to receive upon them the handles of an ordinaryclothes basket whereby the latter is held or supported in an elevatedposition where its interior is within easy reach of a person standingerect alongside of the'truck.

Near their upper ends the posts of each pair are connected by togglelinks 9, 9 whose to said posts and whose inner ends are pivotallyconnected at 11. One of the links 901 each toggle is provided at itsinner end with alaterally projecting lug 12 which, by engagement withthe top of the other link 9, limits the downward movement of the middleportion of the toggle so'that' when the toggle is in its operativeextended condition the pivot 11 is positioned just below a lineintersecting the pivots 10, 10 by the engagement of the lug 12 with thetopof the other toggle link. Thus, the connection between the two links9, 9 of each toggle is a knuckle joint opening upwardly and whose moement oradjustment in the-opposite direc tion is limited by the lug 12as just described. The toggles, therefore, serve to rigidly support theposts 3 of each pair in ,folded into collapsed positions the toggles enthe two posts 3, 3 having the shorter bracket arms 4, are swungdownwardly inthe direction-of the arrow A, the outer endsof said postspassing between the twoopposite osts operative extended relationship andserve to hold said posts against relative swinging movement in eitherdirection.

Each wheel 2 is rotatably securedupon an axle stud 13 projectingobliquely from a bracket 14 secured in position against the outside ofits bar 1. The axle stud 13 is disposed obliquely with relation to itsbracket 14 so that when the apparatus or truck is in condition for usethe axle stud will be substantially parallel with the ground and,

therefore, the wheelwill occupy a vertical position.v V I My new truck,as herein illustrated, is particularly designed for use by housewives inhanging out or taking in clothes. Hereclot-hes basket is hung byitsfhandles "upon the hooks 8 in' which, positionthe contents of saidbasket arejconveniently accessible without requiring stooping over.Moreover,

the loaded basket can be easily and readily trundled or transportedfromone position to another.

7 When the parts of:the truck'are to be 9 are first buckled upwardslightly and t 3, 3' before said two opposite posts are c osed together.As a matterv of fact, in practice the downward movementqof the upperfree ends of the two posts 3, 3 having the shorter bracket arms4, tendsto bring the two base bars 1, 1 toward each otherinthe directions 1indicated by the'arrows C but said free ends 7 .with their book 8 willpass down between the opposite pair of postsbefore the latter close toether .sufliciently to bar their passage. T e pair of posts 3 having thelonger bracket arms 4, are then swung downzo'n top of the first pairafter which the several bars and posts may be secured compactly togetherby means of a yoke latch'15. This yoke latch 15' is pivotally connectedat'its .1niddle, by means of a bracket 16, with ,one'of the posts 3 andafter the several bars and posts have been broughttogether into a bunchthe yoke latch is free to be swung on its bracket 16 into a positionwhere it straddles said bunch and its hooked free ends engage studs 17rojecting from the outer sides of the base ars '1.

The above described truck, when equipped with a clothes basket, may alsoserve very' well as a crib for an infant. When used as a crib it may bedesirable to provide means for preventing excessive swinging movement ofthe basket on the hooks 8 and to this end the oppositesi'des of thebasket may be con nected with the base bars 1 by cords or the like. r 7Q In adjusting theparts of the structure, above described, from theircollapsed condition, shown in- Figs. 2 and 3, to their 0p,-

erative positions the yoke latch 15 is un-f fastened and then the twobase bars 1, 1 are moved apart sufficiently to permit the posts .3having the longer bracket arms 4, to be elevated after'which theopposite pair of posts 3 are swung upwardly into theiroperativepositions. are sufliciently loose to permit of limited bodily movementapart of the base bars 1, 1 necessary in this opening operation. As willbe clear from Fig. 1, the lower ends of .the posts 3 are brought to bearagainst the "topside of the base bars 1 when swung upwardly into theiroperative positions, and

thus, when the basket is in position on the hooks 8, the two pairs ofposts are held against movement on their pivots 5.

It will also be clear from the above description that each base bar 1with its two posts 3, 3 constitutes a U-shaped side frame equipped withwheels and pivotally connected at its: ends by the pintles 7 with theends of the other U-shaped side frame.

What I claim is: 1. A truck of the character described comprising twoside frames'eaeh consisting of a base bar and two posts one adjacenteach end thereof,each post being provided at its lower end' with a rigidlaterally extending arm pivotally. connected with its base bar with thelaterally extending arm of one post -made longer than the laterallyextending arm of the other and the difi'erencein the lengthsof said armsbeingiapproximately equal tothe width of the latterpost; means.pivotally connecting the freeends' of the pair of posts ateach'end ofthe truck; means adjacent the pivotally connected free ends of saidposts and upon theinner sides of the latter for supporting a clothesbasket or the like so that thelatter holds. said posts 'in" upstandingpositions against inward pivotal movement on the pivotal connwtions Thejoints at the pivots 5 between said arms and said base bars, and

means for holding said side frames in extended relationship withprovision for folding the two side frames togetherwhen de sired, thelower ends of'said posts abutting said base bars to hold said postsagainst outward pivotal movement on said last mentioned pivotalconnections when said posts are in their upstanding positions.

2. A truck of the character described constructed in accordance withclaim 1, wherein each base bar is provided with a pair of wheels, onefor each end thereof, by which it is supported clear of the ground.

' 3. A truck of the character described constructed in accordance withclaim 1, wherein means is also provided for securing said side frames infully collapsed positions, said means consisting of a yoke latchpivotally mounted on one of said'frames and adapted to straddle bothpairs of posts and both base bars when the structure is in its fullycollapsed condition, and means on said base bars engaging said yokelatch-to hold the p structure in its fully collapsed condition.

Signed by me at Boston, county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,this th day of November, 1927.

WALTER A. LYNDS.

